Contacts:
Allan O’Bryan, Executive Director – obryan@worldsleepsociety.org +1-507-206-1235
Clete Kushida, President of World Sleep Federation and World Sleep Society
Luigi Ferini-Strambi, President of World Association of Sleep Medicine

Rochester, MN: World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) and World Sleep Federation (WSF) have collaborated to found the World Sleep Society representing both individual sleep professionals and sleep societies. WSF and WASM will merge into one organization serving individual and society members.

Mission Statement: The goal and purpose of the World Sleep Society is to advance knowledge about sleep, circadian rhythms, sleep health, and sleep disorders worldwide, especially in those parts of the world where this knowledge has not advanced sufficiently. This endeavor will promote clinical and scientific information for scientists, health care personnel, and the general public. The World Sleep Society will foster international exchanges among scientists, physicians, psychologists, nurses, physician assistants, technologists, and other medical and research personnel interested in the sleep field. In this manner it is expected that sleep science and medicine can advance for all populations to improve the quality of life of individuals throughout the world. The World Sleep Society will promote world-wide sleep health by advancing public education, supporting public policies related to sleep health, and supporting sleep research.

Programs: World Sleep Society will continue to operate programs of both WASM and WSF. Programs consist of education, awareness, and member services and include the following specific activities:

World Sleep congress every other year

Educational curriculum within the sleep medicine

Exam offering to individuals and sleep societies

World Sleep Day, an annual awareness program

Membership services including member directory and discounted education options

About WASM: WASM’s fundamental mission is to advance sleep health worldwide. WASM fulfills the mission by promoting and encouraging education, research and patient care through the world, particularly in those parts where the practice of sleep medicine is less developed. WASM represents over 600 individual members and 13 society members located in over 40 countries. WASM has held educational congresses throughout the world every two years with the last meeting in Seoul (2015). WASM has developed its specialty journal Sleep Medicine, the World Sleep Day, an international professional certification exam for sleep medicine, full time professional staff and some international standards for interpreting sleep tracings which will all now be part of the new Society.

About WSF: The World Sleep Federation (WSF) is an international organization that was founded in 1988 comprised of seven charter members including American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Asian Sleep Research Society, Australasian Sleep Association, Canadian Sleep Society, European Sleep Research Society, Federation of Latin American Sleep Societies, and Sleep Research Society. The charter members represent 53 sleep societies and organizations, and over 12,000 individuals. WSF has held educational congresses throughout the world every four years with the last meeting in Istanbul (2015).

How To Get Involved: The World Sleep Society will continue all WASM and WSF programs. Members can get involved in the following ways:

Join as an individual or society member. Members receive online access to Sleep Medicine, included in online directory, and are eligible for discounts on educational courses and World Sleep congress.

Become a World Sleep Day delegate by working with local media to spread awareness of sleep issues. A press kit and detailed information is available at worldsleepday.org.

Serve on a committee. The World Sleep Society is accepting applications for the Education Committee. Members will be notified of opportunities for additional committees and leadership positions as they become available.

World Sleep Society’s (WSS) fundamental mission is to advance sleep health worldwide. WSS fulfills this mission by promoting and encouraging education, research, and patient care throughout the world, particularly in geographic locations where the practice of sleep medicine is under developed. WSS represents over 600 individual members, 19 societies, and located in over 50 countries. WSS organizes World Sleep congress every other year. WSS is excited to host the next congress in Prague, Czech Republic October 7-11, 2017. To learn more, visit www.worldsleepsociety.org. Stay connected @_WorldSleep on Twitter and facebook.com/worldsleepsociety